NASA Sends Careerist Government Assholes After 74-Year-Old Woman Trying To Pay Medical Expenses
She wasn't even doing anything illegal. And she was completely open about what she was doing with the government. But it's much less fun to pick up the phone and ask a couple of questions to clarify matters than to get a bunch of armed agents together to set up a sting like some little old lady is El Chapo, North.
Also, agents make their careers through their wins -- as do government prosecutors -- which is why the unscrupulous ones go for the win even when they're doing wrong instead of making right and dropping the case.
As for the case with this woman, Tim Cushing writes at TechDirt:
The "she" here is Joann Davis, whose late husband worked on the Apollo program. He was given two Apollo souvenirs by Neil Armstrong -- paperweights containing pieces of a moon rock and a heat shield, respectively. Davis was looking to sell the items to a collector to defray her son's medical expenses. She asked NASA for assistance, which turned out to be a mistake. NASA sent the feds after her.
Cushing notes:
It's not always illegal to be in possession of these items, but as Lowering the Bar's Kevin Underhill explains, it's almost always going to be treated as illegal by the federal government.
And the government's response:
Davis may have told the government what she was up to, but the government didn't return the favor. Instead, it decided to engage in sting operation, because that's obviously the best way to deal with a 74-year-old woman trying to pay medical expenses -- and who had made the government fully aware of her NASA-related items and her planned sale of them.
The government thugs refused to let her go to the bathroom, and then, when she urinated in her clothing, made her stand for two and a half hours in urine-soaked pants while she was questioned.
The asshole agent is Norman Conley, and his immunity has been stripped by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Great news. Because there's too much of this going around -- from asset forfeiture...to TSA thugs clearly using their positions as a means of revenge against travelers who aren't quite compliant sheep...to taking people's property because they deposited under $10,000 and never mind having any evidence they were selling drugs, arms, or the like...and so many more abuses under the cover of law.
If these government-employed thugs begin to see there are some costs, maybe they'll cut back on all this thuggery against citizens.
He'll get a job in a small town and continue his arrogant behavior.
Bob in Texas at April 19, 2017 7:48 AM
Government officials reviewed accusations of Government official using abusive behavior towards civilian, and the Government Officials found the Government official not guilty. *wink*
Sixclaws at April 19, 2017 8:20 AM
Here's an example:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/03/17/appeals_court_rules_officer_who_killed_man_in_his_own_home_cannot_be_sued.html
Judges looking out for prosecutors and cops? say it ain't so, Joe!
I R A Darth Aggie at April 19, 2017 8:40 AM
Another one of those proposed Constitutional amendments, that will be ratified when I'm Presidente-For-Life, will define specifically which federal agencies are permitted to have armed agents, and how many. The number will be small: Justice, the FBI, the Secret Service, maybe Treasury, and the DoD for military policing. (The CIA will be allowed to have them on foreign soil only.) NASA will not have armed agents. Nor will the Social Security Administration, the Education Department, the IRS, or the National Labor Relations Board, to name a few. (BATF will be zeroed out and shut down.) And no agencies outside of these few will have the authority to direct state or local police.
Cousin Dave at April 19, 2017 10:45 AM
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